Palmer made the startling comments when speaking on Sports Panorama in October, where he suggested that Ghana would have qualified for the Russia 2018 World Cup if money was made available to make unclassified and indemnity payments to referees.

“I was quite surprised that Ghanaians and the media sided with former Sports Minister Nii Lante Vanderpuye [about not budgeting for indemnities] when the government white paper on the Dzamefe Commission report clearly indicated that unclassified payments were legal in the concept of our budget.”

“If we had spent around $300,000 dollars [on referees], and stood to benefit about $8 million [by appearing at the World Cup], I see nothing wrong with it,” he said.

In October, the Ghana Football Association announced that it would begin investigations into comments they deemed disparaging to the integrity of the FA and its competitions including allegations of match-fixing and bribery of referees.

Palmer faced the Ethics Committee of the FA yesterday [Tuesday] where he was questioned on the remarks the Committee said “dented the image of the FA”. In his defense, he claimed he was defending the FA in the face of stiff criticism of the outfit for their failure to qualify the Black Stars for the Russia 2018 World Cup.

But that excuse was shot down and he was told the comments were irresponsible and asked to await disciplinary action which Citi Sports sources disclose would be a suspension.

It is not the first time the Tema Youth Chairman has found himself in controversy. Prior to the appointment of Kwesi Appiah as Black Stars coach, Palmer went on radio to claim he didn’t believe a local coach was competent enough to handle the national team.